"What?"
Hiruko looked at the golden giant bird whose size was no less than his chimera. His previous feather attack had been effortlessly resolved by the other.
The giant bird landed, transforming nimbly into human form. Karin and the imposing Hiruko exchanged glances, with no trace of fear in her eyes.
'A Transformation Jutsu? Like the Inuzuka Clan's? Or something else?'
Seeing a giant bird transform into human form, Hiruko's research desire surfaced again.
Unlike Orochimaru, who sought to understand the underlying principles, Hiruko thought about how to fuse this power into himself.
"Never mind, as long as I merge with it, I'll understand, right!"
Hiruko's voice mixed with the chimera's roar, the sound waves crashing toward the Takigakure's villagers one after another, making everyone's ears tingle.
The next moment, the huge chimera charged forward. Just the monster's sharp teeth and claws were enough to easily destroy the village.
Yet, faced with such a behemoth charging at her, Karin didn't even blink.
Whoosh-
That was the sound of something cutting through the air.
"Huh?"
Hiruko instinctively looked up and saw four black shadows growing larger and larger.
"You bastard! You idiot! Ugly freak!"
B's blades were coated with Lightning Attribute Chakra, greatly enhancing their cutting ability.
The chimera's bony carapace was directly chopped open by such a strike.
However, compared to its massive size, such a small wound seemed insignificant.
"You-"
Looking at the Kumogakure's forehead protector on the other party's head, Hiruko felt he had seen this person somewhere before.
'...Ah, right, it's the Eight-Tails' Jinchuriki from Kumogakure.'
During the Third Great Ninja War, he didn't have enough power and could only watch from afar as those geniuses flaunted themselves on the battlefield.
He remembered seeing battle reports about the other party back then.
The next moment, Sasuke's figure had already appeared above the giant beast's head.
Transforming into a falling meteor, his hybrid form, combined with Chakra and Haki-enhanced kick, directly pierced through the chimera's skull.
"Hey, don't just stand there watching~"
"I know!"
Two voices came last.
Blue flames and scorching magma mixed together, almost instantly enveloping the chimera's head, and Hiruko himself along with it.
The figures of the several people landed one after another, standing shoulder to shoulder.
Fu, in her Tailed Beast State, stared dumbfounded at the people before her.
"Who are you..."
Inside her, the Seven-Tails' Chomei also opened its eyes, sensing the familiar Chakra with some surprise.
"Gyuki, Matatabi… and Son Goku?"
"Is that guy from Akatsuki?"
Yugito and Roshi hadn't seen Akatsuki before, but B, Karin, and Sasuke recognized the signature black robes with red clouds at a glance.
"Ah, right, this guy is also a member of Akatsuki."
B answered the questions of the two newly joined companions.
"But... Konan's list didn't seem to include this person."
Karin's memory was always excellent.
Before leaving Amegakure, she had asked Konan for information on all previous Akatsuki's members.
Hiruko wasn't among them.
"Whatever, we'll deal with them one by one, the rest..."
Just as Sasuke canceled his transformation and returned to human form, he suddenly felt a gust of wind from behind.
Clang!
Claw met claw.
The size difference between the chimera and Huodou made this contest of strength seem even more contrasting.
"Quite tenacious vitality."
The stalemate lasted less than a second before Sasuke used his Hasshoken to deflect the blow, the giant claw plowing several deep furrows in the ground.
But fortunately, no one else was hurt.
Seeing this, the Tailed Beast Squad re-entered combat mode, each extending their respective tails, which left Fu, who had fully transformed for the first time today, a bit stunned.
'How come this ability, which I just learned, suddenly became so common?'
"Ahahahaha! You think you can kill me?"
Hiruko's arrogant voice came from the flaming giant beast's head.
Followed by the sound of a carapace cracking.
Thud! Thud!
The eggshell-like carapace, along with the attacks attached to it, fell to the ground.
Hiruko remained behind, completely unharmed.
"Ah… Move aside! Move aside!"
At that moment, a voice arrived belatedly from above.
It was Jiraiya, who could neither fly nor jump from high altitude safely like the Tailed Beast's Jinchuriki and Mythical Zoan-type Users.
Earlier, when their group approached Takigakure, Naruto sensed the battle inside and signaled the Avengers Squad to attack immediately.
Karin charged ahead first.
The others, being either Jinchuriki or Mythical Zoan users, could barely ignore fall damage.
But Jiraiya didn't have that ability.
He tried to create an ink bird, but the bird was blown askew by the massive airflow, and even a few feathers exploded near him.
The hastily created ink construct was instantly blown back to its original form.
Fortunately, by then Jiraiya was much closer to the ground, so he wouldn't die from the fall.
Thud!
Jiraiya landed, raising a cloud of dust.
Karin and the others tacitly took a step back simultaneously, none of them reaching out to catch him.
After stepping back, they looked at each other as if asking, "Why didn't you help?"
"Hey, hey! You guys are really heartless."
Rubbing the bump on his head, Jiraiya irritably brushed the dust off his clothes.
"Especially you, Karin, so reckless. Couldn't you have put me down somewhere before going down?"
Hearing this, Karin averted her gaze and muttered softly,
"But Naruto-san said the situation was urgent..."
The others around also looked amused, and even the corner of Sasuke's mouth lifted imperceptibly.
'Dare to ignore me!?'
Hiruko, watching the intruders who seemed to have switched from a heroic entrance to a slapstick comedy, felt the arrogance born from his inflated power instantly replaced by rage.
Especially when he shifted his gaze to that figure he could never forget.
"Jiraiya!!!!"
Hiruko and the chimera roared simultaneously, instantly drawing everyone's attention back.
"Jiraiya-sensei, he seems to know you."
Yugito also started calling Jiraiya '-sensei' like the others.
"Oh? That is..."
Jiraiya held a hand above his eyebrows like a visor, squinting as he carefully examined the white-haired, masked man fused with the monster.
"Is he an acquaintance of yours?"
Karin tilted her head, asking curiously.
"Ah… Can't remember."
After examining for a long time, Jiraiya still couldn't recall who this guy was.
His voice was piercingly clear on the battlefield, effortlessly reaching Hiruko's ears.
The Legendary Tank Jiraiya used the skill [Taunt]!
It's super effective!!
Hiruko instantly entered a state of fury. If there were a system panel display, one could clearly see his hatred value for Jiraiya instantly reach one hundred percent.
One could say the combined effect of everyone's previous coordinated attack was less than Jiraiya's casual remark.
The giant lion head opened its mouth wide, red Chakra rapidly gathering within, aimed directly at the culprit, Jiraiya.